Cloth inspector



J. G. BENTLEY CLOTH INSPECTOR Oct. 10, 1933.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1, 1931 (Wi i n" [I HI JOHN G. BEA/nayINVENTOR.

A TTORNEY.

Patented Got. 10, 1933 UNITED STATES CLOTH INSPECTOR John G. Bentley,

Greensboro, N. 0.

Application June 1, 1931. Serial No. 541,425

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved cloth inspecting machine in whichmeans are provided whereby a greater portion of the cloth is exposed toview, at any one time, than other machines heretofore employed, and alsoa series of lightsare provided for illuminating portions of the cloth asit passes thru the machine, there being two sets of lights, one forilluminating the overhead traveling portion of the cloth, primarily,

and also assisting in the illumination of the vertically travelingsection of cloth, and another series of lights are mounted on each sideof the machine for illuminating particularly the vertical travelingportion of the cloth both sets of lights assisting in the illuminationof the angularly disposed lower traveling portion of the cloth so thatmeans are provided whereby the cloth can be inspected at three differentpoints during its travel thru the machine and this inspection may becarried out simultaneously as all three portions are exposed to use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cloth inspectingmachine primarily adapted to receive a source of supply from a truck asshown in my co-pending patent application, Serial No. 510,048, filed onthe 20th day of January, 1931.

Another object of thisinvention is to provide an inspecting machinehaving a suitable framework and in one portion of this framework asource of illumination is provided, preferably the source of supplyupwardly behind and over the head of the operator of the machine, andforwardly over the head of the operator and then downwardly in front ofthe operator and then toward the operator before leaving the inspectingarea of the machine, from whence the cloth is wound onto a suitablemechanism into rolls, bolts, or any other suitable packages. By thisarrangement, it is possible, not only to inspect the cloth by lookingupward overhead, but also by looking straight forward as it travelsvertically downward, and also by looking downward as the cloth travelsover a suitable board toward the operator, and on account of thepeculiar arrangement of the various sources of light, it is possible todetect certain filling irregularities in one section of the machine,whereas the lights are so arranged as to particularly show up theirregularities in the warp threads of the fabric as it passes thruanother portion of the machine.

The invention is so designed that the mercury lights will cause defectsin the filling of the fabric, to be easily detected, whereas thefilament bulbs mounted in the reflector housings on the sides of themachine are particularly adapted to show defects in the warp strands inthe fabric. lhe combined effect of the three sources of light, that themercury tube housing, and the various mercury tubes therein, and the twofilament housings with the plurality of filament bulbs thereinaredesigned to give a general lighting effect to aid in the inspectionprocess as well as to particularly point out the; defects both in thewarp and the filling structureof the fabric as it passesthru themachine.

The mechanism is made more efiicient by a provision of a suitablealcove, partially housing the inspecting machinewhich provides a background of a suitable color to aid in the inspecting operation: and toassist the electric lights in the inspecting machine to cause theoperator to easily detect the imperfections in the fabric. Due to thegreat area of the fabric exposed to inspection atall times, it ispossible to run the inspecting machine at a verymuch higher rate ofspeed than has theretofore been accomplished in anycloth inspectingmachine. 4

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of thecloth inspecting machine; I

Figure 2 is a front elevation;

Figure 3 is a view of one of the housings for the filament bulbs, takenalong the line 3+-3 in Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numerals 10 and 11indicate suitable uprights for the framework of the machine, saiduprights 10 and 11 having bases 12 and 13 integral with the lower endsthereof Secured to the upper end of upright 10 is angular cross piece 14and to the upper end of upright 11 is a similar angular cross piece 15for supporting the upper structure of the machine. Projecting upwardlyfrom one end of cross-piece 14 is a vertically disposed member 16 andlikewise a similar member 17 projects upwardly from the correspondingend of crosspiece 15.

A suitable member 18 is secured between the ends of members 14 and 15,and likewise, the op posite ends of'members l4 and 15 have the secur-.

ing means such as rods 19 and 20 spaced apart from each other andsecured to the cross-pieces 14 and 15, forming a space therebetween thruwhich the cloth may pass in the inspecting operation. The upper end ofmembers 16 and 17 have rotatably secured therein the rollers 21 and 22over which the cloth passes in the inspecting operation, and a suitableangular member 23 is secured between the uprights 16 and 17 for thepurpose or" providing a rigid framework.

Mounted in close proximity to the uprights 16, and 17 and resting on thecross pieces 14 and 15, is a housing 25 in which the mercury tube lights26 and 27 are mounted having the wires 28 and 29 leading to tube 27, andthe wires 30 ano 31 leading to tube 26 from suitable sources of energyfor conveying electrical energy to these mercury tubes for providing asource of illumination. This housing is open on the side most removedfrom the uprights 16 and 17 to cause the rays of light emitted by thetubes 26 and 27 to be thrown against the cloth 35 which is led fromsuitable roll 36 mounted in a truck 3'7, the structure of which truck isspecifically disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application, SerialNumber 510,048 filed on the 20th day of January, 1931.

Adjustably mounted on suitable screws 40 and 41 is a table 42 over whichthe cloth passes during the latter part of the inspection process, andsecured to this 'tableare two supports 43 which have a roller or rod 44mounted thereon in suitable upstanding bearing portions 45 so as toallow the cloth to pass beneath the roller 44 or rod 44 as the case maybe after it travels downwardly from between the rods 19 and 20, andafter traveling under rod or roller 44 passes across table 42 onto thetakeup roll which will be presently described.

Mounted on the uprights 10 and 11 are the housings 47 and 48, both ofthese housings being identical and being secured to the uprights bymeans of lugs 49 and 50 projecting from the housing and being adjustablysecured to brackets 51 and 52 secured on the uprights, and adjustableconnections being maintained by means of bolts 54. A suitable source ofenergy 55 leading thru wires 56 and 57 provides electrical energy forthe filament bulbs 58 mounted in each of the housings so as to projectrays of light particularly against the vertical portion 60 of the cloth35 in its downward travel.

At the front edge of the table 42 is provided a roller 61 over which thecloth passes, and

. mounted in suitable bearings 62 secured to uprights 10 and 11, is aroller 63 which has a yardage counter 64 associated with one endthereof, and the cloth, after passing over roller 63, passes onto asuitable tube 65, releasably mounted on a shaft 66 which shaft isreleasably secured on a stud 6'? at one end thereof, and has a femaleportion into which the male portion 68 is adapted to fit at the otherend thereof, and the cloth is wound in the form of a roll 70, on thetubular member -65, or if desired, othersuitable holding means may beemployed for receiving the cloth and winding it in suitable packages.

The member 68 is suitably driven by means of a train of gears in ahousing 72 which housing 72 -is conventional and the mechanism thereofis driven by a suitable source of power such as an electric motor '73secured in any suitable manner to the mechanism contained within housing72.

The starting and stopping of the mechanism is controlled by a treadle 74on rod 75 having a crank '76 on one end thereof with a connecting rod'77 leading to the mechanism contained within the housing for startingand stopping the mechanism as desired by the operator.

It is seen that I have provided a cloth inspecting machine in which theweb supply is located behind the operator and the cloth passes upwardlyand over the operators head and then downwardly in front of theoperator, and then angularly toward the operator and thus providingthree different points at which the inspection process can be carriedout in quick succession without the operator deeming it necessary toturn around, and if desired, a second operator could be positionedbehind the web supply and carry out an inspection process on the clothin its first upward travel into the inspecting machine.

By the provision of the alcove surrounding the machine which alcove hasa top portion and sidewalls 81 and 82 and a back portion 83 painted orfinished in any suitable color, it is seen that a suitable backgroundcould be provided excluding all outside light except that which entersthrough the front of the machine and the mercury lights being of suchgreat intensity will prevent any cross lights from interfering with therays of light generated by the sources of light in the machine, and itis thus evident that not only are the lights so arranged to give ageneral lighting effect, but also they are peculiarly adapted to causeone source of energy to bring out the defects in the warp of the fabricand another set of lights are adapted to bring out the defects in thefilling of the fabric.

Furthermore, due to the great speed at which the mechanism is capable ofbeing run, the machine is therefore, capable of performing a serviceequal to several machines and for this reason the device is veryeconomical in that it dispenses with the services of several operatorsfor inspecting a. given yardage of cloth within any given time.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employedthey are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth inthe appended claims.

I claim 1. In a cloth inspecting machine, a pair of spaced uprights, aforwardly projecting member secured to the upper end of each of saiduprights, an upwardly projecting member secured to the outer ends ofsaid forwardly projecting members, a roller mounted in the upper ends ofsaid upwardly projecting members, a rearwardly opening housing havingits ends secured to the forwardly projecting members and havingilluminating means therein, a pair of rearwardly projecting memberssecured to the upper ends of said uprights and having a roller mountedtherein, an angularly adjustable table mounted between said uprights andhaving a roller mounted on its upper rear edge and having a rollermounted in its forward edge, a take-up mechanism mounted below saidtable, a rearwardly and inwardly opening housing secured on each of theuprights and having illuminating means therein, the cloth being adaptedto be passed above the first and second mentioned rollers and below theroller on the rear edge of the table and over the roller on the frontedge of the table and onto thetake-up mechanism, whereby an operatorstanding in front of the table may inspect the cloth overhead, in frontand below the eyes of the operator.

2. In a cloth inspecting machine, a pair of uprights disposed at eachside of the machine, a cross member for each upright, securedintermediate its ends to the upright and projecting forwardly andrearwardly of the uprights, a vertically projecting member for eachforwardly projecting portion, a roller mounted in the upper ends of thevertically projecting members, a roller mounted in the rear ends of thecross members, an angularly adjustable table mounted between theuprights a substantial distance below the cross members and having aroller mounted on its rearmost upper surface and having a roller mountedon its forward edge whereby cloth can be passed over the first tworollers and beneath the third roller and over the fourth roller forinspection simultaneously above, in front and below the eyes of theoperator.

8. In a cloth inspecting machine, a pair of uprights disposed at eachside of the machine, a cross member for each upright, securedintermediate its ends to the upright and projecting forwardly andrearwardly of the uprights, a vertically projecting member for eachforwardly projecting portion, a roller mounted in the upper ends of thevertically projecting members, a roller mounted in the rear ends of thecross members, an angularly adjustable table mounted between theuprights a substantial distance below the cross members and having aroller mounted on its rearmost upper surface and having a roller mountedon its forward edge whereby cloth can be passed over the first tworollers and beneath the third roller and over the fourth roller forinspection simultaneously above, in front and below the eyes of theoperator and an alcove disposed above, in the rear of and adjacent thesides of the inspection machine to facilitate inspection.

JOHN G. BENTLEY.

